First there was Title IX

imgres-2Someone said to me the other day that she believed that more women’s heads were just starting to scrape the ceiling.  I agree.  Not only are their more conversations around women founders, women CEO’s and gender balance in companies there is the reality that we are seeing more of it vs just having the conversation.  Obama has even spoken about the need for equality pay.

Yesterday the top female athletes in soccer filed a lawsuit to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission citing wage discrimination.  They assert that they are being paid 40% less than their male counterparts.  If they are then that is utterly ridiculous.  They should be getting equal pay, period.  Keep in mind that the US women’s soccer team been the top of their game vs their male counterparts who have not (3 World Cup Championships, four Olympic championships).  They are being shortchanged in salary, benefits, sponsorships and the works.   They are focused on domestic revenue as FIFA determines the other.

Opportunities for women in sports have changed dramatically since Title IX was passed.  Yet playing does not equal compensation.  I applaud these women bringing equal pay to courts.  My hope is that by winning this lawsuit, equal pay trickles down to everyone else because it has to.  It is a ballsy move….and a nice kick in the pants for everyone.

Comments (Archived):

  1. kirklove

    “40% less than their male counterparts”Confused about this. Are they arguing they should be paid the same $$$ amount? Or the same percentage of revenue?Agree with the latter wholeheartedly. Not the former.Example (very simple math):If male sport brings in $1000, person gets paid $100 (10% of revenue)If female sport brings in $100, person gets paid $10 (10% of revenue)

    1. Gotham Gal

      i had not had my coffee yet. just put in another sentenceif they are getting paid 40% less than their male counterparts that should be fixed asap. Equal pay is what is fair and their successes outweigh their male counterparts on top of that.as for places like the NBA, that is a whole different ball game. What the NBA brings in on revenue, sponsorships, attendance is very different men vs women. It is unfortunate but business is business and people should get paid as a equal % of the profits. That is fair.

      1. pointsnfigures

        Agree with Kirk. I don’t think they get paid to be in the Olympics (but might be wrong about that). I also think that when it comes to per diem, equipment etc they should spend the same on women as they do men for our national teams. The US Women’s Soccer team has been head and shoulders better than the men’s national team. If they are talking about pro soccer, then pay is dependent on the revenue they bring in. Same with the NBA and WNBA. As far as income outside the actual league (sponsorships), that is totally up to the negotiation between the player and the sponsor. I am quite sure Nike and Adidas are paying men more than women-but it’s probably because of revenue and not discrimination

        1. Gotham Gal

          we will see what the law suit brings.

      2. kirklove

        Dove into the NY Times article on this. Does seem they want equal percentage of the revenue they generate. 100% support that.

        1. Gotham Gal

          yep.

      3. jake

        “What the NBA brings in on revenue, sponsorships, attendance is very different men vs women. “How do you know this isn’t also true about soccer worldwide? Just because the women’s team is popular in the U.S. doesn’t mean that women’s soccer comes anywhere close to men’s soccer for worldwide revenue.According to the US Soccer Federation’s budget, in 2014 the Men’s team brought in ~$17M vs. ~$7M for Women’s. 2015 Men’s team ~$27M, Women’s ~$3M…http://www.philly.com/phill…And I don’t see the logic in having salaries based on domestic revenue for an international sport. This is equivalent to the Cleveland salesperson of a national company wanting company-wide bonuses based on Ohio sales.”The NY and LA people dwarf your numbers.””Yeah, but I still think our overall performance should be based only on Ohio.”

        1. Gotham Gal

          i have not read the nitty gritty of the law suit so it will be interesting to see what unfolds are “equal”

  2. LE

    They assert that they are being paid 40% less than their male counterparts. If they are then that is utterly ridiculous.That totally blew me away. What is strange (whenever I hear about a situation like this) is how the “agents” for those people negotiate differently for women clients than for male clients. In that case the agent makes more if they get more for the client (at least typically) so you have to wonder why they are willing to take so much less and why they don’t push like they would for a man. Even if it’s not applicable to this situation for some reason (maybe it’s a contract rate, who knows) you wonder why, for example, entertainment agents (there have been a few stories on this) negotiate differently for women stars vs. men stars. I would love to know more about what happens behind the scenes with that.That said my daughter, when I try to push her to get a raise at a company that she is working for, really gives me pushback on doing that. Otoh girls that I have dated (including the women that I am married to) have taken my advice on certain occasions and it’s worked out very well. [1] I was able to literally double my ex girlfriends salary (she was so underpaid).[1] In my wife’s case her old boss told her that he wanted her to negotiate his contract he was so impressed with the way that she handled him (I gave her all the moves and what to say and to be clear, yes, I am bragging here!)

  3. Erin

    I love that they brought this to the courts. Go girls!

    1. Gotham Gal

      totally. go go go!

  4. Jeff Jones

    The women’s World Cup was played on artificial turf instead of natural grass which was also a slap in the face to the women athletes http://www.si.com/planet-fu… . But that’s FIFA not US Soccer and you only need to read Sepp Blatter comments on women soccer players here to understand how mental this guy is. http://www.bbc.com/sport/fo

    1. Gotham Gal

      Totally FIFA. That is a whole other conversation!